St. Patrick's Athletic 2 - 0 Drogheda United

• Jody Moylan
• Fri, Aug 06 2010


St Patrick’s Athletic went three points ahead of Shamrock Rovers until Sunday at least after a victory that never looked in doubt against a timid Drogheda United side at Richmond Park.

Things took a while to get going with little of note arising until the 8th - Shane Guthrie stealing in at the back post to nod Gareth O’Connor’s corner just wide.

Drogheda soaked up much of these early exchanges in a half largely dominated possession wise by the Saints. Pete Mahon made four changes from the side that started against Bohemians last week including the exclusion of the Airtricity League duo; Dave Mulcahy and Ryan Guy, the latter sustaining a dead leg at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night.

While one of the main critiques of St Pat’s this year has been the absence of depth in the squad the changes didn’t seem to matter here and in the 23rd minute ex- Shelbourne striker David McAllister thumped home from just inside the Drogheda box after Derek Doyle’s ball in wasn’t dealt with properly.

It took only seven minutes for Doyle himself to register on the score sheet. Again the Drogheda defence was all at sea after Gareth O’Connor’s in-swinging corner was met by the early substitute Vinny Faherty. The touch looked initially to have enough on it but some early St Pats’ claims for a goal were forgotten about when Doyle made sure, poking to Robert Duggan’s left in the ensuing scramble.

St Pat’s were full value for their early dominance with Drogheda failing to make any kind of head-way in the final third save for a half chance in the 36th minute when Peter McMahon forced Gary Rogers into an awkward position, if not quite an all out save after a dangerous ball in from the right.

The two-nil loss at home to Bray last week will have done little for the Louth men’s confidence but their record so far this term against Pete Mahon’s outfit (three wins from three games) might have caused them to rally here. It didn’t, and that defeat last week to the basement side now seems to suggest a truer reflection of where Darius Kierans’ men are right now.

They did muster the odd chance in the second half- Kevin Ross flashing wide just after the hour mark and Flood forced Rogers into a fine save after a clumsy mix-up in the Pats’ defence. St Pats could have had a bagful however if they had been more clinical with the final effort- the two goal scorers in particular could have added to the final tally but tame attempts in the 76th and 79th respectively will not worry Pete Mahon too much going into the weekend.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Gary Rogers; Derek Pender, Shane Guthrie, Connor Kenna, Damien Lynch; David McAllister, James O’Brien (Dave Mulcahy 72‘), Gareth O’Connor, Derek Doyle; Paul Byrne (Vinny Faherty 29‘), Danny North
Booked: North (27’), Pender (36’) Doyle (45 + 3’)
Subs not used : Sean Stewart, Ian Birmingham, Chris Bennion

Drogheda United: Robert Duggan, Ciaran Hoey, Stephen Murphy, Mick Daly ,Eoghan Osborne (Derek Kierans 73‘); Peter McMahon (Darren Meenan 89‘), Kevin Ross, Ryan Brennan, Ronan McEnteggert; Glen Fitzpatrick (Willaim Woods 72‘), John Flood
Subs not used: Paul Skinner, Jamie Harris, Colm Smyth

Referee: Derek Tomney
Attendance: 1269
Extratime man of the match: Gareth O’Connor